bluefin2525

I read up on earlier threads about flushing out the shift and lock out solenoids. When you put them back in, must you fill them with AT fluid, or will the transmisison on start fill them up? I have some higher pitched noise that sounds like gear grinding when I started the engine.

 

Rick)Rox

I would fill them just to be on the safe side

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bluefin2525

The reason I had asked this question about whether to fill the AT solenoids on installtion (see AT Solenoid Install) was that I had feared that I had done something to the transmission when doing the AT solenoid repair. I also considered that the starter gear was failing engaged in the flywheel as there were indications of starter problems before I began. Nope to both. In checking out to see if the starter was engaging improperly, I thought first to look at the flywheel from underneath the car and see if it was damaged. The flywheel looked OK, but I noticed the back of the torque converter cover plate (what you have to remove to see the flywheel from underneath the car) was freshly scored. The cover plate was being ground by the bolt heads on the torque converter causing the worrisome noise. This was caused by my own stupidity. I had pushed the torque converter cover plate into the flywheel when trying to get a socket on a nut to take off the oil pan to replace the gasket. That project immediately preceded the AT solenoid job. It was just about 1mm or less indentation, enough to cause the amateur mechanic headache. I pounded it out, put it all back, and no more noise. As an added bonus to wash away my troubles, cleaning the AT solenoids solved the transmission problems. From going to only having 3rd and 4th gear when in D, to normal shifting, was great. My son (it’s his car) had a quote from a transmission shop of about $2500 for the rebuild. But you guys in this forum alerted me to the AT solenoid issue. The shop manual guided me to test the solenoids while still in place. The lock-up solenoid did not click at all when energized with 12 V, and the shift solenoid made a weak click and my hot wire occasionally sparked. After cleaning both as detailed in this forum, they both bench tested OK, clicking away when 12V was applied. And regarding whether you need to fill the solenoids on install, I didn’t and it worked. The AT pump must fill them all on initial engine run. It's great when it all works out.